Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS Q&A

The science of 3 Body Problem: what’s fact and what’s fiction?

Nature spoke to the sci-fi programme’s adviser and two other researchers about the portrayal of PhD scientists and their technologies.
  1. Sumeet Kulkarni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

A publicity photograph from the first episode of 3 Body Problem featuring Jovan Adepo as Saul Durand and Eiza González as Auggie Salazar.

Particle physicist Saul Durand (played by Jovan Adepo) and nanotechnology specialist Augustina (Auggie) Salazar (played by Eiza González) look to the sky for a signal from the alien San-Ti civilization. Credit: BFA/Ed Miller/Netflix via Alamy

An alien civilization spying on humans using quantum entanglement. A planet chaotically orbiting three stars. Nanofibres capable of slicing through Earth’s hardest substance, diamond. Despite being chock-full of hardcore science, 3 Body Problem, a television series released on 21 March by the streaming service Netflix, has been a hit with audiences. So far, it has spent five weeks straight in Netflix’s list of the top-three programmes viewed globally.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01272-5

These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links